Ecoliteracy

Ecoliteracy
• Is the understanding of the principles of organization that
ecosystems have evolved to sustain the natural systems
toward sustainability.
Ways to Develop Ecoliteracy in Schools
1. Develop empathy for all forms of life.
2. Embrace sustainability as a community practice.
3. Make the invisible visible.
4. Anticipate unintended consequences
5. Understand how nature sustains life.
Seven Environmental Principles of Nature
1. Nature knows best
2. All forms of life are important.
3. Everything is connected to everything else.
4. Everything changes
5. Everything must go somewhere
6. Ours is a finite Earth
7. Nature is beautiful and we are stewards of God’s creation
Green School
A Green School is identified with elements and practices that inculcate
environmental sensitivity and promote sustainability through different
environment-friendly means and encourage judicious use of resources.
A Green School adheres to the following percepts:
1. Learning about the environment
2. Learning through the environment
3. Learning for the environment.
Dark Green School Program
It is a school that delivers Environmental Education through
assimilation of the environmental philosophy by the students in formal
lessons, as well as in activities outside the classroom. Accordingly,
schools must:
a. be clean and neat as evidence of good management
and housekeeping.
b. call for green spaces, appropriate land use, planning,
conservation of materials and energy, proper waste
management, segregation, & use of appropriate materials.
Dark Green School Program
c. have management policies and guidelines that would
create a healthful and ecological campus.
d. have a well-planned environmental curriculum for all
levels, adequately oriented and trained faculty, and
administrative, library and financial support.
e. have faculty and students who are aware of and
appreciate the environmental program of the school.
f. reach out to an outside community to spread concern for Mother Earth
g. engage in research
 Integrating Ecological
Literacy into the Curriculum
Play-based Learning
An experiential learning tat engages students in their
own environments and a strategy that captures their
imagination and advances environmental stewardship and
civic engagement.
Project-based Learning

A strategy that involves students in projects that use a

variety of resources, while the teacher usually serves as a
facilitator of learning.
Socratic Inquiry

Rather than teaching facts and information, teachers

encourage students to ask questions about their
assumptions, values, and preconceptions. Through skilled
questioning, the teacher asks students to clarify their
statements, identify weaknesses in their arguments and
provide evidence for their reasoning.
Experiential Learning

Promotes students’ involvement in the real world and

defines the teacher’s role as a facilitator of learning.
Interdisciplinary Learning

Emphasizes connections between disciplines rather than

limiting learning to one content area at a time.